


Count the ways

by Jilted_Muse (Shadecat)



Category: Merlin (BBC) RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-19
Updated: 2010-01-19
Packaged: 2017-10-06 11:20:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadecat/pseuds/Jilted_Muse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In where Bradley is NOT obsessed with Colin's hands. Not at all. Not even in the slightest. Well.. maybe just a little.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Count the ways

Bradley was not noticing them again. He very emphatically told himself that for the two hundred and thirteenth time. He was not hunched over his bowl of cereal, shoveling spoonfuls in his mouth and ogling Colin Morgan's hands. Two hundred and fourteen. Bradley closed his eyes and took a deep breath in his nose, his mouth currently occupied by masticated flakes of frosted-flakey goodness. He concentrated on the individual pieces as they slid over his tongue and bunched in his cheeks. It was much less distracting than the nimble dance Colin's fingers performed as they peeled an orange, or how one hand fiddled idly with his unused spoon while the other cradled a cup of coffee. Or how both hands drew invisible images in the air while he talked when he was excited about the topic of conversation. Two hundred and fifteen.

Bradley loved and hated when Colin wore his silly little girly wrist band. It was like it outlined one of the best parts of Colin Morgan's body. There was the rest of him, then there were his hands. His pale skinned, tapered fingered hands. The outline of the veins on the back making them seem more delicate than they were. Than Bradley knew they were, since he'd been on the receiving end of a few affectionate punches and head chuffs. He hated how the contrast of dark leather and pale flesh drew his eyes to those infuriatingly lovely hands. Two hundred and sixteen. A habit he found all too common these days. Especially after his last wanking incident.

Bradley James had made the monumentally huge and devastating mistake while stroking himself in the shower of wondering what Colin thought of while he wanked. Which then led to him thinking of Colin's hands on Colin's cock and how those fingers would look wrapped around it. How his fingers would slide like a whisper over teased flesh and how Colin would look up at him and bite his lip while stroking and- that was as far as Bradley got before he came explosively against the tiles, almost collapsing onto the floor of the tub as his mind ruptured as well. When he was capable of sight again, the image of Colin's hands wrapped around himself and Colin's head thrown back in pleasure was permanently burned into Bradley's brain. Which would certainly be an excellent reason why his fascination with Colin's hands had grown more intense. Two hundred and seventeen.

It didn't help that with a heightened awareness of those hands came the knowledge of just how often those hands touched him on a daily basis. How Colin's hand would place itself on his arm to get his attention, the fingers dragging lightly across his sensitized flesh as the hand lifted off after its objective was achieved. Or how those fingers clasped his shoulder in an affectionate squeeze before the body they belonged to turned and left for places not near Bradley. Or how when Bradley was intensely trying not to notice those hands, they played dirty by getting very close to his face and snapping loudly. Not that Bradley had a chance in hell of not paying attention when those hands were around. It didn't help that Colin had developed an extremely annoying habit of playing those fingers along his bottom lip lately. Bradley would be attempting to have a normal and decent conversation with Colin, and he'd have to dig his nails into his palms to ground himself when those pale fingers lifted up to Colin's mouth and fluttered against the pink flesh of his lip. If it weren't for the completely guileless look in his eyes, Bradley would be of the mind that Colin was doing it with the express purpose of seeing how much torture Bradley could take before he went completely starkers.

It also didn't help that Colin had also developed a habit of grasping the tops of his thighs or resting his hands where his pockets should be, since wardrobe had not seen fit to bless Merlin with a pair. Bradley was thinking of making up a list of all the habits Colin had recently attained that 'Needed to Go For the Sake of My Sanity' and having someone give it to him anonymously. Those hands in that vicinity brought with embarrassingly vivid quality flashes of 'The Incident Which Shall Be Forever Branded In My Poor Abused Brain', which in turn caused him to flush and stammer and try in vain to focus on what Colin was saying to him, instead of what Colin was doing to himself in the dark and perverse corners of Bradley's mind. Two hundred and eighteen. Bradley could have sworn that Angel and Katie were snickering at him behind their own completely normal and non-enthralling hands whenever they caught him staring at the very enthralling hands that were attached to Colin. He blatantly refused to acknowledge the long-suffering sigh and accompanying eyeroll that Anthony gave him whenever he got distracted by Colin and his hands walking by while they were going over lines and Anthony was trying to explain how Uther was just a misunderstood teddy bear who only had the best interest of Camelot at heart and if one bothered to take the time and got to know Uther, they'd find he was actually quite smashing.

Not that Colin's hands were the only thing that drew Bradley's attention. Two hundred and nineteen. Bradley thought Colin had lovely lips, lips that Bradley definitely and in no way whatsoever had he ever thought of wrapped around his cock. Nor had he thought of those dark eyes staring up at him while he was doing that. He most certainly had never thought about those long fingers running over his body (two hundred and twenty) and wrapping around the base of his dick to hold it in place while his tongue ran- BLOODY HELL! Bradley shifted in his seat uncomfortably and thought about football. Not working. He frowned and thought about the time he'd been sacked during a game and had almost thrown-up on the field. That did the trick. Almost. Then his evil and completely non-compliant brain flashed a scene of Colin wriggling his fingers into a pair of tight black leather gloves. Two hundred and twenty-one. He remembered having to do that scene seven times before he could make it through without being yelled at to pay attention to his cues. This, of course, was so not the reason he had bought Colin a pair of those identical gloves for his birthday.

The day passed as most days do, one second moving into another, gradually progressing into minutes and hours. The day for Bradley was segmented into 'How Many Times Did I Get to Touch the Hands' (two hundred and twenty-two) 'Colin Smells Way Too Good, *sniff sniff* Is That Cinnamon?' and 'Bradley Jr Needs to GTFO Before Someone From Wardrobe Notices'. Luckily, he was only sniggered at three times before the end of the day, mainly from Katie and Angel who annoyingly noticed his discomfited squirming between takes. He bolted as soon as wrap was called, wanting nothing more than to get home and have a stern talking to with Bradley Jr, who usually ended up being completely unrepentant during these conversations. His escape was halted immediately by the object of his torment stepping in front of him. "James, we're headed to the pub for dinner. Fancy a bite?"

Bradley would have loved to have said 'No, I really need to get home and wank myself off like you wouldn't believe', but Colin was playing very dirty by placing his hand on Bradley's shoulder and looking him endearingly in the eyes, which made Bradley Jr and Bradley 'Awww' in that very repressed girly part of himself. Then Colin stroked his thumb once over Bradley's collarbone before removing his hand and Bradley Jr tried to push through his pants since it also seemed to have picked up Bradley's hand-fetish. Two hundred and twenty-three. "Sure. A bite. Sounds… good." What Bradley had in mind to bite, he didn't find it necessary to divulge to Colin. Especially not when Colin was smiling that smile and using his evil will-sucking hands to pull him towards their ride. Bradley had a very stern internal dialogue with Bradley Jr about 'Proper Times and Places to Bring Attention to Oneself' and when that didn't work, promised to lavish attention on it when they were alone if it would just please, please take a nap. The pleading worked, and Bradley managed to squeeze in between Angel and Colin in the backseat without putting anyone's eye out.

Of course, being squished beside Colin meant that he was tortured for the rest of the ride with Colin's hands. Because, of course Colin had to rest them on his thighs. And since Colin's thigh happened to be right next to Bradley's, Colin's fingers were constantly sliding onto Bradley's thigh with each bump of the car. Two hundred and twenty-four. A fact Bradley both praised and cursed as he stared intently through the windshield and tried not to grab the hand and- Bradley Jr was annoyingly persistent. Bradley closed his eyes and thought about monkeys. There was absolutely nothing sexy about monkeys. Except their ears sort of reminded him of Colin's. And when you thought about it, which he most certainly wasn't, Colin would look pretty cute sitting in a tree with a leopard-print loincloth. Bradley sighed and opened his eyes. He really needed to start wanking himself before coming to set – every morning. And maybe a few times during lunch. Colin was not helping the situation by shifting in his seat and rubbing his thigh against Bradley's. No. Bradley could quite honestly say that was nowhere near the vicinity of 'helping'. He was quite certain it was in the neighborhood of 'Reasons Why I Carry a Water Bottle to Accidentally Drip on the Crotch of My Pants'. Luckily for Bradley, his pants and Bradley Jr, they managed to make it to the pub without a water-related accident. Just.

Bradley survived the evening by popping random images of some of the more nasty things he'd come across in his life into his head in place of the S.O.S. messages Bradley Jr was telegraphing urgently to him. He smiled woodenly and laughed at all the appropriate places, trying desperately to keep his eyes from straying to Colin's hand that was running light fingers over his fork as he talked to Anthony about something Bradley couldn't hear over the roaring sound of every single drop of blood in his body rushing to his cock. This was, of course, due to the distressingly clear image of those fingers running equally lightly over said cock, stroking it absently like a lap-dog. Two hundred and twenty-five. Bradley made a strangled noise and pulled his coat across his lap as he stood. "Look, I appreciate the invite, but I'm knackered. Worn out. Completely. I think I'm going to turn in early. Like, nowish. Bye." Bradley quickly tossed a few bills on the table and turned, striding – not running – for the exit. He pretended to ignore the sound of his name being called across the pub. He was convinced there was a hamster wheel in his brain on which Bradley Jr was running tirelessly, ceaselessly pumping out images of Colin, Colin and Bradley and all the things Colin and Bradley could do together – naked.

His feet carried him to the hotel on auto-pilot since his brain was involved in a heated debate with his cock about the benefits of either letting it out to play with Colin right this very second or at least nicking into one of the large, darkened doorways to relieve the tension, also right this very second. Bradley's brain won out over Bradley's cock only due to Bradley's cock realizing how close they were to Bradley's hotel room where it was sure to get the fawning attention it had been craving all day, thank you very much. Bradley fumbled with his keycard, shoving it into the slot and throwing the door open. He shed his clothes as he walked into his room, peeling his boxer-briefs away from his straining prick as it twitched in anticipation. He almost shuddered with relief when he lightly clasped his fingers around himself, allowing a couple quick strokes before opening his eyes and heading into the bathroom. He knew he'd need the relaxing pulse of the shower after relieving himself, the stress of the day bunching uncomfortably in his shoulders and neck. Waiting for the water to warm up, Bradley thought he heard a knock. He frowned. Did he need to put a bloody "Bugger off, I'm wanking" sign on the door? In French? He glared down at the still-screaming Bradley Jr and yanked a towel off the rack to wrap around his waist. "Just a bloody minute. I'm coming," he growled at the door as he whipped it open and snarled right into – Colin's surprised face.

"You, uh, dropped your iPod." Colin held it up as he just looked at Bradley. Who blinked rapidly and reached for it, trying not to bite his lip as his fingers wrapped around Colin's. Two hundred and twenty-six. Fingers that weren't letting go of his iPod. Bradley tugged harder and opened his mouth to tell Colin to knock it off, only the words stopped in his throat as he saw the flush on Colin's face. Bradley followed Colin's gaze down to Bradley's cock that was doing its best to wave hello to Colin. Bradley felt the heat suffuse his own face as he brought his eyes back up to Colin's… who was still staring at a very-happy-to-be-noticed Bradley Jr.

"Uh…," was as far as Bradley got in his absolute denial of having an erection before Colin's mouth crashed onto his, Colin's momentum pushing both men back into Bradley's room. Bradley's arms flailed for balance before his sluggish brain got off its ass and inputted the fact that Colin Morgan had his lips pressed against his. Colin Morgan's hands were finally tracing lines over Bradley's skin. Two hundred and twenty-seven. Bradley brought his arms around Colin and squeezed tightly as he kissed Colin back. He parted his lips and licked his tongue over Colin's teeth, slipping past them to wrap around Colin's tongue, which was a part Bradley had unforgivably missed in his 'Colin's Body Parts That Are Probably Delicious and Are Likely to Drive Me Crazy' list. He slanted his head and widened his mouth, deepening the kiss, needing to taste Colin more. He felt one of Colin's hands slip down to toy with the edge of the towel at his waist, the other moving up to cup the side of Bradley's face.

Bradley was able to drag in a proper breath as Colin drew his head back, locking his eyes on Bradley's. "You don't know how long I've been wanting to do that. The towel did me in. I could resist the urge until you just had to open your door in a towel. With that," Colin ran the back of his hand teasingly over Bradley's cock, "practically begging for attention." Bradley glanced down at said cock, then back up to Colin. He wondered if Colin had some strange form of telepathy with Bradley's penis, since that was exactly what it had been doing at that particular moment in time.

Bradley stared at Colin, trying to find something extremely witty and sexy to come back with. "I left my shower running." Nope, that would definitely not fall under the category of witty or sexy. Bradley frowned and tried again. "You kissed me." Bradley wondered if he'd suffered a brain injury recently that he didn't remember since that also didn't fall under the category of witty or sexy and he very much wanted to sexy the pants right off of Colin at the moment.

Colin grinned and leaned in, pressing gentle lips to Bradley's. "How very observant of you, James. I did, indeed, kiss you. Any other obvious remarks you'd like to make?"

"I didn't think you thought like that. I mean, I didn't know you thought that about me. Not that there's anything wrong with you thinking that… about me, that is. Especially not about me. You definitely should not be thinking that about anyone else… at this particular moment of time… the moment being now… with me… oh bloody hell, just kiss me again." Bradley grasped the back of Colin's head and pulled him in, wanting to taste that taste again. Colin apparently thought this was a 'very good idea indeed' as he responded enthusiastically, leaning his hips into Bradley's and driving Bradley Jr completely insane. Bradley bit at Colin's bottom lip and pulled Colin closer by his arse, grinding his hips in a slow circle, pulse speeding when Colin groaned into his mouth.

Colin pulled back again, something Bradley would rather he not do right then, since he was very content to explore the depths of Colin's mouth with his tongue. "You didn't think…? Bradley, you are the most obtuse arse on the face of the planet. I've been gone on you since our first audition. Why else would I put up with you constantly shoving your bloody camera in my face, all the time? I never did anything about it because sometimes you'd tense up and not look at me, just stare at the table or my script. Something which you've been doing a lot more, recently. I thought maybe you'd figured it out and… I dunno, gotten disgusted or offended." Colin trailed off, dropping his eyes.

Bradley gaped. "Disgusted? Offended? Bloody hell. I'm not either of those. I wasn't… haven't been… AGH! Do you realize how often I've had to wank off after a set with you? What the bloody hell do you think I was going to do before you showed up?" Bradley clarified this by thrusting against Colin, which both Colin and Bradley's cock enjoyed. Bradley dipped his head down to blow softly against the bend of Colin's neck, darting his tongue out to paint a wet streak he cooled with his breath. "I've had constant fantasies of you, every day. I could stock a library with all the scenarios I've put you in." He moved his mouth up to brush lips softly against reddened ears, grinning as those long-fingered hands scraped against his back, moving down to grip Bradley's hips. Two hundred and twenty-eight. "To continue with my obvious remarks, you, Colin Morgan, are wearing far too many clothes." Bradley's quick tongue came out to play with Colin's ear, which gained Bradley the reward of short nails digging into his flesh and teeth scraping over his shoulder in an attempt to mute a whimper. A very ineffectual attempt, but one that caused the simmering lust in Bradley's gut to boil, which would explain why Bradley growled as he reached down and grasped the bottom of Colin's shirt, yanking it up and over his head.

"That was because of me?" Colin sounded almost incredulous, although, that could have been his voice stuttering because of Bradley jerking at his pants. An activity that was instantly forgotten as Colin's hand reached down and cupped Bradley through the thin terrycloth. Bradley groaned and tightened his hold on the waist of Colin's trousers, trying to retain a vague and miniscule amount of brain function. Something Bradley Jr negated as it slipped out of the hamster wheel and locked Bradley out of his brain, a feat Bradley hadn't thought possible. Of course, Bradley also hadn't thought Colin's mouth on his or Colin's hand on his cock would ever be in the realm of 'Things That Could Possibly Maybe Happen, Especially if One Consumed a Bit Too Much to Drink, Here Colin, Have Another'.

"Pants," Bradley said against Colin's mouth, his hips moving to press against Colin's, the friction sending jolts through him that had his hands running frantically over the bare chest exposed to him.

"Obvious as always, Bradley." Colin slipped his tongue through Bradley's lips, silencing the muffled protest while his oh-so-nimble fingers had the button and fly undone in nanoseconds. Bradley waited with what he thought was infinite patience as Colin toed his shoes off before trying to shimmy out of his pants. Colin straightened, standing completely naked in front of Bradley. Bradley noticed that the hands which he ached to have back on him matched the body they belonged to perfectly. Colin was slim all over, angles and tapered lines, smooth and pale flesh stretched taut across slender bones. Two hundred and twenty-nine. Those slender fingers reached out to tug at the heroically still-in-place towel, which took the better part of valor and fell unwanted to the floor.

"Col…" Bradley exclaimed breathlessly as he took in the whole package in front of him, then "Gods, Colin!" as those fingers whispered over Bradley's cock. "No… wait. I want…," Bradley took a deep breath and reached down to wrap his fingers around Colin's wrist. He brought the wicked fingers up to his mouth and pressed a kiss lightly to the tip of each before drawing Colin's index finger into his mouth. He let his tongue twine over the finger, watching Colin suck in a breath and his eyes darken as his pupils expanded. Bradley dragged the finger out of his mouth and nipped the tip of it. "I want you to do something for me."

Colin flicked his tongue out to wet his suddenly dry lips. "Wassat?"

Bradley smiled evilly, "I want to watch you touch yourself." Bradley was very satisfied with the way Colin's eyes widened and his cock twitched at the request.

"Why?" Colin stared at Bradley's lips as he waited for the answer.

"Because I've wanked to you doing it for the last week and I want to see if the reality is as good as my imagination." Bradley licked up the center of Colin's palm, nipping along the edge of his hand, then slipping Colin's pinkie into his mouth.

"What would you be doing while I…," Colin finished the question by dragging his free hand down his chest and reaching under to cup his balls. Bradley groaned as the image of Colin's hands touching Colin's testicles made his own tighten in response.

Bradley popped the pinkie out of his mouth and looked directly at Colin. "I fully intend to wank to the reality. Kind of a comparison. 'Which version of Colin Morgan is better to play with oneself to?' Besides, if you get anywhere near my bits right now, this isn't going to last very long." This being said, Bradley raised his eyebrows in challenge at Colin. Something he knew would get the desired result since Colin rarely backed down from what he considered a dare.

He was proven right when Colin blew out his cheeks and straightened his back, "Fine, but on the bed." Bradley was forced to agree and follow since he refused to give up his hold on Colin's hand, now that he finally was allowed free reign with it. They both made their way to the bed, Bradley rubbing Colin's hand over his cheek, like a cat scent-marking 'Mine'. Two hundred and thirty. Colin reached it first and walked on his knees to the center, dragging Bradley around to his left side, since that was the hand Bradley refused to relinquish. Colin smiled at him and lay back against the headboard, stuffing a pillow under him to lever himself up a bit. Then he completely melted Bradley's brain when he just reached down and wrapped those clever, wicked fingers around his cock. Bradley's eyes couldn't decide which part they wanted to drink in, the long strokes that had Colin's dick almost pulsing in his hands, the flushed face accompanied by half-closed eyes and a bottom lip being chewed on, the body in front of him twitching involuntarily as it processed the simple yet devastating strokes it was giving itself. Bradley swept his gaze over it all, memorizing each stuttered breath and groan, each twist of the wrist that brought that hand to the end of that cock before it swiveled back and plunged back down to the root, how Colin's hips would lift up to meet his hand, like he was fucking his circled palm.

Bradley didn't think he'd ever been more turned on in his entire life. Ever. Bradley's dick concurred with that statement and sent up a plaintive plea for its own attention. Bradley took pity on it and stretched out on his side, using his right hand to keep Colin's left captive while reaching down and holding himself with his left. Not his normal hand, but under the circumstance neither Bradley nor Bradley Jr was going to complain. He just held himself for a moment, watching Colin's strokes slow, looking up to his face to see Colin watching him, waiting. Bradley grinned and slipped Colin's captive thumb into his mouth as he caressed himself, playing fingers idly over purpled flesh and thick veins. He bit softly into the meat of Colin's thumb before suckling it further into his mouth, caressing it just as idly with his tongue. Colin gasped and increased the tempo of his hand, gaze encompassing Bradley's hand and Bradley's mouth. Bradley felt his balls tighten and growled around the flesh in his mouth. Bradley figured Colin was using his penis-telepathy again since he was hurrying himself along to try to match Bradley's orgasm. Bradley slowed his hand to give Colin a fighting chance, since he doubted Colin had been walking around all day with a hard-on, and slipped the thumb out of his mouth. He licked, kissed and nibbled his way along the hand to the wrist, sucking the skin at the pulse point into his mouth and setting his teeth into it lightly. Bradley heard Colin groan his name as his hips bucked. Bradley came watching Colin fucking his own hand and the reality was marvelously better than the fantasy. He almost giggled as his head slumped down and rested on Colin's sprawled arm.

He raised heavy eyes and smiled when he saw the goofy and satisfied grin on Colin's face. "That was… brilliant." Colin stated as he tugged Bradley up closer. "I don't know why I didn't think of attacking you while you were in a towel sooner."

Bradley snorted. "I don't know why I didn't wander randomly around set in one all the time."

Colin wrapped his left arm around Bradley and ducked his head down to kiss his head. "You did, once. I can't tell you how exceedingly grateful I was that the water you had to chuck on me was cold."

Bradley grinned into Colin's chest, "Ah, but now that I know your weakness, I'll have to exploit it. Frequently."

Colin rolled his eyes where Bradley couldn't see, but Bradley could swear he heard it. "As if you didn't already."

"But this is a beneficial weakness, since me exploiting it and getting you riled up will likely lead to sex."

Colin quirked an eyebrow at Bradley. "Likely?"

Bradley smirked. "Well, I mean, if we're out in public and there's no available dark corners around, you may just have to suffer until one can be found."

Colin squawked and prodded Bradley with his right hand, which was soon captured and pressed against Bradley's lips. "We'll see who's exploiting who, James."

Bradley smiled in response, lips brushing against the hand in his. "Two hundred and thirty-one."

Colin looked down. "What?"

"Nothing, Col."

 

~End~


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